Here’s a 1952 Caterpillar, high-output, D8 (made by Caterpillar Tractor Company). It is currently being used in Mitchell County, Iowa. The track pads were widened to 36" for low ground pressure. The cab from an IH combine keeps one out the weather. It has power steering from a spare D8. This one has s special transmission that will back up faster than going forward-

During the 1950s, farmers were increasing the size of their operations and asking for tractors with more power. Tractor engineers answered their requests by designing engines with a larger displacement, increased engine speed, or a combination of both. Most tractor models during this era offered a choice of gasoline, LP-gas, or diesel engines, but the diesel engine generally had to have a larger displacement than the spark-ignition engines to provide a similar power output.

The new-for-1962 Allis-Chalmers D19 tractor took a different approach for obtaining increased horsepower in its diesel engine by being the first farm tractor with a factory-installed turbocharger. The turbocharger enabled Allis-Chalmers to use the same 262-cubic-inch size of 6-cylinder Allis-Chalmers engine for all three fuel types and obtain similar power outputs. Using the increased displacement technique for its diesel engine would have required a 280- to 300-cubic-inch diesel engine to match the power from the 262-cubic-inch gasoline engine.

A turbocharger consists of two high-speed turbines on one shaft. One turbine is mounted in the stream of the exhaust gases which drives the turbines. The other turbine is located in the intake air stream and forces more air into the cylinders than would a naturally aspirated engine. The increased quantity of air permits more fuel to be injected into the cylinders which increases the power output of the engine.

The Allis-Chalmers D19 was initially rated as a 5-plow tractor with 70 PTO horsepower. At the Nebraska tests in April 1962, the D19 with its gasoline engine produced 71.5 PTO horsepower, the LP-gas version was measured at 66.2 PTO horsepower, and the D19 with its turbocharged diesel engine developed 66.9 PTO horsepower. A 3-position hand lever provided a high and low speed in each of four gears for eight forward speeds. The neutral position between the high and low positions stopped the forward travel, but not the PTO. The foot clutch stopped all power.

Initially turbochargers were used to provide more power for the larger models of tractors. Soon this expanded to one size of diesel engine providing three levels of power by being naturally aspirated, turbocharged, and turbocharged and intercooled. Today this technique is being used for all sizes of diesel engines, including those in utility tractors.

Larry Gay is the author of four tractor books and the ”Machinery Milestones” articles in Heritage Iron magazine. To learn more about this magazine which focuses on the 1960-1985 era, go to heritageiron.com or call 1-800-552-6085.

These tractors are featured for the month of October in the Classic Farm Tractor Calendar.

Bob Haas spotted a tractor with his name on it in 1997, at the Ageless Iron Expo. It was among the “lesser known classics” exhibit headed up by the late, great Ed Spiess. Bob Haas was soon pursuing Haas tractors, and following Ed’s advice formed a club and newsletter for Haas enthusiasts (the Has founder was of no relation). One of the post World War II tractors, they were built for a short time. A ’49 Model D listed for $1,747. It sported Continental 4-cyl. engine, 140-cu. in., with nearly 30 hp, a 3-point hitch and live hydraulics. The smaller B had parts from a Ford Model A car, a Jeep and other war surplus parts. Grandson Jacob Wilkerson is on the B with Bob Haas standing alongside.

Owner: Robert “Bob” Haas
Roanoke, Illinois

The entire family gets involved with the Haas tractors, including grandsons, Caleb and Seth Wilkerson, Jacob’s older brothers. Contact Bob Haas for club information: 309-394-2692. He’ll send you the “Ten Most Common Questions Asked about Haas Tractors.”
The world-famous Classic Farm Tractor Calendar from Classic Tractor Fever is in its 21st year of publication with the 2010 calendar available now. They have calendars, videos, books, and much, much, more. Click here to visit their online shop.

By Bob Feller. This story first appeared in "My First Tractor" which is available at bookstores and online booksellers and from www.voyageurpress.com.

To baseball fans—and Caterpillar collectors—Bob Feller needs no introduction. Born and raised on a farm in Van Meter, Iowa, Feller stepped up to the pitching mound for the Cleveland Indians when he was a mere seventeen years old to throw what would quickly become a legendary fastball. After eighteen years with the Indians, Feller retired from baseball in 1956. Just six years later, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Feller has traveled the United States throwing baseballs, served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific, and seen the bright lights of the big city. But you can’t take the Iowa farm boy out of the man, and after his retirement from playing ball, Feller began to look back with a sense of nostalgia to the tractor he drove as a youth on his family’s Iowa farm. That sentimentality inspired him to buy his first vintage Caterpillar, which led to purchasing a second one and eventually a whole fleet of old crawler iron.

When my father bought the first Caterpillar tractor in Iowa in the early 1930s to use on our family farm, everybody said he was crazy. “It won’t work,” folks told him. People in our part of the country drove Fordsons or Farmalls, Johnny Poppers or Olivers—tractors with wheels on them. Nobody used a Caterpillar with those crazy crawler treads on them. It simply wasn’t right.

Well, naturally they were all wrong. That Cat Twenty proved itself on our farm and made a convert of me and many another farmer.

Our family’s farm was located in the countryside near Van Meter in the south-central part of the state. Working our land, I put in many hours at the controls of that Cat Twenty, as well as the twelve-foot Caterpillar combine that my dad purchased to run with it. They were solid machines that served us well for many years. My fascination with Caterpillars grew from those roots and continues to grow today.

I left the family farm to earn my living throwing baseballs. When I was seventeen years old in 1936, I made my major league debut pitching for the Cleveland Indians against the St. Louis Cardinals. Over the years, I dueled from the pitching mound with some of the all-time greats, batters such as Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio—just me against them. Some of the veterans of those days said I threw the fastest pitches they had ever seen.

We all took time out from baseball during the World War II years; I served with the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Alabama from December 1941 to August 1945. I returned to the mound in 1945 and remained true to the Cleveland Indians until my retirement from baseball in 1956. At the end of eighteen years of throwing fastballs for the Indians, I had a record of 266 wins against 162 losses, a lifetime ERA of 3.25, and 2,581 strikeouts. In 1962, I was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

But despite my achievements on the baseball fields, part of my heart still belonged to the farm fields of my youth. Nostalgia for hallmarks of our roots seems to hit us harder as we grow older. For me, as for many farmers, one of the ties to my youth was the Caterpillar Twenty that I operated as a kid in the 1930s. I decided I wanted to track down another Twenty, which I soon did. Little did I know, but my life as a Cat collector had begun.

Since finding the Twenty, my small Caterpillar collection continues to grow. It’s kind of my own personal Caterpillar “hall of fame” that includes my favorite Cat models: the Twenty, two Tens, a Forty, Twenty Two, Twenty Five, Twenty Eight, and a D4. Someday soon I hope to add to the collection.

You can look at the latest Caterpillar today and see the history in the machine. The lineage of the Holt and Best machines, the steam age, perfection of the crawler system, the early gas tractors, and Cat’s industry-leading development of diesel power are all in a modern Cat. And that’s part of what makes the Caterpillar story so great.

Another aspect of Caterpillar’s greatest is that the machines are so versatile, a fact that is shown in the roster of Cat collectors. We come from all walks of life. Some come from a farming background. Other people’s fascination with Cats started from working with them on construction sites, logging crews, road-grading jobs—anything and everything a Caterpillar can do.